Electrochromic (EC) devices are based on the electrochromic characteristic of materials. When applied to glass, or other substrates. EC devices allow the color, opacity, and/or transparency of the substrate to change. Such EC devices are referred to as “smart glass” or “smart windows” as the characteristics of the glass, or other substrate, is changed by electronic switching. Used in buildings, these smart windows may provide shade, energy savings, privacy, partitions and so forth. The user may control the heat or light that passes through the glass using electronic switching, rather than shade, blinds or drapes. There is a great interest in the use of EC devices for energy saving; however, EC devices may be used for variable transmission windows, automotive mirrors for controlling reflectivity and displays.
Used in construction of buildings and in elements in transportation, these windows result in energy efficient building envelopes and transportation bodies (such as vehicles, trains, boats, etc.) by regulating the solar energy penetration through the windows. For building glaze applications, wide acceptance will make smart windows available at acceptable costs and enable smart windows to operate with low-power consumption. Low-power consumption allows EC products are able to avoid additional costs due to the installation of extensive wiring network throughout the building windows.
It is desirable to design such EC devices to be able to be produced at attractive costs and also reduce the power requirements, and thus the power consumption, using local power source(s) or generation device(s), such as a backup rechargeable battery circuitry along with the use of small solar cells mounted on the window frames, respectively. The present invention provides methods and apparatuses for design, fabrication, installation and power supply for EC structures and devices that achieve these goals. A brief description of conventional EC devices is provided in the section entitled “Conventional Construction Methods and Configurations” describing materials and compositions as background information to better understand the present invention.